Closing the gap or re-victimising the marginalised? Indigenous perspectives on family violence

Renee Fiolet is a researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, and a lecturer in nursing at Deakin University. As a Scholar for the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, her research focus is in Indigenous health, family violence and health care. Renee is also a Board Member for the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International as well as the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre.

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.

Republish

You are free to republish this article both online and in print.
We ask that you follow some
simple guidelines.

Please do not edit the piece, ensure that you attribute the author, their institute,
and mention that the article was originally published on BroadAgenda.

By copying the HTML below, you will be adhering to all our guidelines.

Copy this HTML into your CMS

Press Ctrl-C to copy

Research:

The indigenous voice in Australia is over 65,000 years old - but is it actually heard when it comes to decision-making? Every year in July, NAIDOC celebrations are held across Australia to to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year's theme - Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let's work together for a shared future - highlights the need for Indigenous peoples' knowledge to be heard through their own voice.

Indigenous peoples are more likely to experience family violence than the non-Indigenous population. Despite this, they are also less likely to seek help. Yet, little is actually known about the reasons for this - especially from Indigenous perspectives. Take a look below.

Despite these poor outcomes, Australia’s Indigenous population is less inclined to seek help than non-Indigenous Australians. And yet, there is very little evidence regarding the reasons for this reluctance, particularly from an Indigenous perspective. Without this information, we risk providing culturally insensitive services and have little hope of addressing the issues. What's more, ill-informed organisational and service-provider attitudes can cause re-victimisation for Indigenous survivors of family violence rather than offer support or an opportunity for healing.

Our findings indicate that Indigenous peoples are cautious to seek help for family violence. Many Indigenous peoples avoid it because of the tremendous barriers they encounter when trying to access help, with shame commonly cited as one of the main reasons.

However, for Indigenous peoples the concept of shame is a lot more complex than when non-Indigenous peoples feel “ashamed” or “embarrassed”, as it stems from the way colonisers encourage Aboriginal and other First Nations people to feel shame over their race and culture.

Years of systematic and individual racism has led to Indigenous peoples to be too ashamed to bring any more attention to themselves. This same ongoing mistreatment, seen not only in Australia but also in other colonised countries such as Canada and New Zealand, makes the original owners of the country feel that they are not entitled to the same support that colonised peoples receive.

Judgement, misunderstanding of needs and western mainstream approaches are causing mistrust and fear in a population already marginalised and abused

Racism also drives the culturally inappropriate service response shown when Indigenous peoples do try to access support. Judgement, misunderstanding of needs and western mainstream approaches are causing mistrust and fear in a population already marginalised and abused. Victims and survivors can experience re-traumatisation through the delivery of inappropriate care; a problem that Australia cannot afford.

Our findings also indicate that when Indigenous people are not facing barriers created from colonisation, they also face community barriers. Because of the tightness of many Aboriginal communities, there are issues with accessing support from culturally appropriate resources unless a victim of violence is willing for the 'whole community' to know about it. The tendency for Aboriginal organisations to be staffed by community members has obvious benefits for many in the community, yet family violence survivors often don’t get to enjoy feeling culturally safe because of the great risk of other community members finding out their private and sensitive matters.

So, instead of turning to professional services, Indigenous peoples are more likely to seek support from family members, friends, elders and other community members, despite the fact that many know they will not receive the help they need from these informal networks.

It’s vital for Australian service providers to think about how they can respond appropriately to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors of family violence

There was, however, some evidence of Indigenous peoples accessing formal support when they experience family violence. Unfortunately, this mostly seemed to occur when they felt there was nowhere else to go, they were in significant danger, or the situation had reached a crisis point. Therefore, it’s vital for Australian service providers to think about how they can respond appropriately to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors of family violence.

The way forward

Australian service providers working in the family violence sector need to ensure that they are committed to training which improves their understanding, and subsequent response to clients who are at the intersection of violence and other forms of discrimination such as racism.

Research needs to be informed by Indigenous voices, not non-Indigenous service providers

In addition, research is needed to establish a deeper understanding of the barriers our Indigenous peoples face when seeking support. Importantly, this research needs to be informed by Indigenous voices, not non-Indigenous service providers.

It is time Australia gave a voice to its marginalised communities, rather than attempting to provide inappropriate responses which cement the mistrust that already exists. Maybe then we can work towards avoiding a culture of re-victimisation.